Dr RA Lingeshwaran said emergency services should not be subjected to a trial-and-error basis as lives could be lost if response teams missed the golden hour during emergencies.

Citing an official record of an incident in Teluk Air Tawar this morning, he said the first emergency call via the NG999 was made at 5.27am followed by another at 6am when the ambulance failed to turn up.

“A third call was made at 6.25am. When there was still no response, the family decided to call a private ambulance which arrived at 8am. We just cannot afford this kind of situation,” he told FMT.

In another incident, he said, two ambulances arrived at the scene of an emergency.

Lingeshwaran, a former director of Sungai Bakap Hospital in Penang, said this could cost lives, and that the government should put the system on hold pending a review.

The NG999 replaces the Malaysian Emergency Responses 999 system.

It is an integrated strategic digital system that enhances resource and data sharing among emergency call centres and related central agencies to improve the efficiency of emergency services.

On July 1 last year, deputy communications minister Teo Nie Ching said the new system integrated web-based digital mapping, caller ID, geolocation services, the use of artificial intelligence technology and mobile smart applications into emergency incident management, providing more efficient assistance nationwide.